Opposites Attract
by iheartShules
Summary: Shaw works a new number who on paper she'd avoid, but can't help but be attracted too. ::Takes place s3 it is AU since Carter is alive, and established Careese:: Shaw might be a little OOC as I don't typically write a Shaw centric story but I tried for you Gretchen for your present. If you hate this Gretchen I'll write you a smutty Careese story w/xtra smut! Pairing: Shaw/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note: Hi, so Merry Christmas Gretchen, you asked for a Shaw centric story with a love interest, and here it is. I hope you enjoy it, I know you like her, and I'm trying to warm up to her I really am it's difficult lol. This takes place some time season 3, it's AU for two reasons, one Carter lives on, and secondly there is established Careese. They are in a relationship for an undisclosed amount of time since you love Careese too, Gretchen.**_

_**But before anyone goes to read this thinking there is a lot of Careese in here, there isn't. It's all about Shaw, her love interest, and the other characters sort of lend to her plot for this story. They don't play a big role in this story at all, so if you are used to my other stories with Careese, and you don't like Shaw this will not be your story!  
**_

_**Also, as I am not huge fan of Shaw, I tried to write her in character but I think I failed since I think I added some extra flair to her that so far the show has not shown me. So I apologize if she's OOC, this was a little difficult for me to write since she's not a character I normally write for. But I was willing to try for you Gretchen!**_

_**Thank you Elaine for speed proofing this for me, on such short notice, I thank you a million times!**_

* * *

"Why couldn't Reese take the boring number?" she demanded as she sat inside her car, binoculars pulled out, a bag of chips opened for her to munch on, tapping her hand against the steering wheel in agitation. She hated stakeouts, but they were a necessary evil in the world she lived in, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy the lamest part of field work.

"Uh, well…" she cocked a brow as she raised her binoculars up, looking through the window of the office building where the general practitioner she was following owned his business. The doctor was good looking from his photo, she'd hit that, if he hadn't been such a goody two shoes. He did a lot of community work, gave free health-care to underprivileged people, and fostered homeless animals. It wasn't even just the fact that he was Dudley Do Right as to why she'd avoid him like the plague, it was the fact that he was on an online dating service looking for love. He wasn't in it for casual sex; she, on the other hand, was a wham-bam-thank-you sort of gal, she wasn't looking for anything more than that. This guy was divorced, looking for love, to have some kids; talk about all kinds of strings attached.

"Come on, Finch, why am I stuck with Dr. Do-Right? Who is Reese's new number?"

"Well Ms. Shaw, our newest number requires going undercover in a facility I did not think your…limited social skills would be right for."

"And what facility is that?" So help her if he said some top secret facility where Reese got to shoot some kneecaps, she was quitting.

"Wee Bee Kidz Group Family Day Care."

"Wee Bee? Day care? As in Reese has to deal with diapers, spit-ups, crying, and worst of all….children?" She couldn't stop herself from snickering. "Better him than me."

"Yes, well Mr. Reese, wasn't exactly thrilled with the circumstances, but he understood he was the better candidate between the two of you."

"So who's the number, is little Mikey going to steal Suzie's sippy cup?"

"Ms. Shaw, this is serious, I would not receive a toddler's number if the machine did not see something. Mr. Reese is trying to get close to a boy and to his single mother, to find out what she got mixed up in, resulting in her son being targeted."

"Wait, a single mother?"

"Yes,"

"Is Reese planning on dating this woman to get close to the toddler? Because I think Carter might have something to say about that."

"Detective Carter is an understanding woman and she'd know that it is just an undercover assignment," Finch explained, still trying to understand Shaw's way of thinking. Shaw nodded her head, she would never figure out Carter's or Reese's need to be together. Screw each other, sure, but be in a committed and loving relationship, what would be the point? Nothing ever lasted forever, especially with what Reese and Carter did for a living. "Have you learned anything about Dr. Palmer?"

"No, nothing new to report other than he had two more routine checkups since the last time I reported in. Finch, I might kill myself from boredom if I don't get some action sometime soon!" She checked her wristwatch, seeing it was just noontime. Her stomach growled reminding her she skipped breakfast this morning to hurry when Finch said she had a new number. Come on Dr. Do-Right, go out for lunch so she could get some grub too!

"I'll check in with you later, Ms. Shaw." She didn't even bother to respond, she just clicked the button in her earpiece and had blissful silence. She brought up her binoculars to look into his office when she saw them shutting the lights off. YES, he and his two nurses were closing up for lunch. She was in luck. She'd follow him inside an eating establishment, force-pair with his cell phone, and get to eat. It was a win-win for her. She watched as Jacob Palmer, her query, walked towards his modest Ford Focus. His white lab coat was off, replaced with a leather jacket, on against the cool December air, making him look more masculine than before. His thick light brown hair was short on the sides and parted on the left with his longer locks combed over and gelled in place, giving him a more modern, almost preppy look. No cowlick in sight, preferable to her, while Carter went on and on in annoying detail about Reese's and how she liked his hair.

She followed his car as he pulled out of the parking lot of the office building, making sure she kept a nice distance so he wouldn't realize he was being followed. She wasn't sure why someone would want to kill this guy, he was too much of a goody-two shoes; she was sure he was the victim rather than a perpetrator.

"Ms. Shaw," Finch's voice filled her ear, meaning he was finished checking up on Reese. She clicked the button in her earpiece as she smirked as she drove.

"How's Reese?"

"His first day on the job is going….not well."

"Not well, elaborate…in detail." If she had to have the most boring number in the world, knowing Reese was being spat up on made it world's better for her.

"Ms. Shaw, how is Dr. Palmer?"

"He's taking a lunch-break thankfully, I'm starved since I rushed out this morning thinking I had an action-filled new case. But I'd see more action if paint was drying."

"Well some people in this world aren't party goers and live basic lives. Not everyone that we need to help happen to be spies, hackers, or work for a government agency."

"Yeah well, he drives like a grandfather. Finch, I have no idea who would want to kill this guy other than someone trying to put him out of his misery." She followed him through the latest stoplight, only to watch him pull up to parallel-park on the other side of the street. Okay, maybe he wasn't that good as he parked alongside the curb in front of Jimmy's No. 43. "Well, well, well, this might just have finally gotten real interesting, Finch."

"What do you mean, Ms. Shaw?" The doctor slid from his car, hurrying into the bar. She pulled up behind his car and parked.

"He's at a bar, in the middle of the afternoon, maybe the good doctor is meeting up with a bookie or something."

"Could be, Dr. Palmer might have a gambling addiction and meets his bookie at the bar, maybe he's financially strapped. I'll hack into his bank account."

"You do that, I have to get eyes and ears on him." She slid from her car, placing a good old fashioned tracking device on the back bumper of his car before heading for the entrance. She pulled out her cell phone as she entered, seeing there were a few patrons, all men, already sitting at the counter drinking. A few of them turned to look to see who entered, while she pointedly ignored their looks. Inside there was one waitress who was wiping down the small booths and tables along with one male bartender. The bartender was in his late forties, with a baseball cap on, and her number was sitting at a stool speaking with the man. She found a small table in the corner where she force-paired with Palmer's phone then listened in on his conversation.

"Hey, Jake!"

"Hi Mr. Wilson, how's your son?"

"Oh Brian is feeling much better thanks to you; I'll never be able to thank you enough for saving my son's life. If you hadn't insisted on sending him to a heart specialist, my boy might not be with us today."

"You don't need to thank me, Roy, I just wanted to know how he was doing, and did he make the honor roll?"

"He did, he made his mother and me proud." She smiled to herself. So the man was on his lunch break, but rather go doing something for himself, he was checking up on one of his patients, making sure they were better. She squashed the smile immediately, what was the matter with her? It had to be Reese's fault, he was starting to rub off on her. She didn't do smiles, sympathy, or sorrow the only emotion she did was anger. There was only one time she could say she felt something, what it was she wasn't exactly sure, but it had been with that little girl…Gen. She liked it better when she didn't feel anything at all, which she was aiming for from now on; Gen was a one-time deal. Period, end of conversation.

"Hi there sweet thing." She pulled her eyes from the doctor to the man sitting nearby. He had to be an alcoholic, had to be if he was sitting in a bar at one in the afternoon with nowhere else better to be. She eyed the drunk from head to toe as he stood up to make his way over to her.

"I suggest to you sir, to take a hike because I don't wish to be bothered." she stated calmly and coldly.

"Ms. Shaw, please don't do anything rash." She smiled at Finch's voice in her ear. He knew her so well. She liked to shoot first than ask questions.

"Oh, the pretty kitten has claws," his words sounded slurred already. "Good thing I'm a lion tamer, I will tame the pretty kitty." he laid a hand on her thigh. Shaw smiled as she leaned forward, but not too close because his breath reeked, eyeing the bloodshot brown eyes of the man that was currently touching her.

"You take your hand off me before I break every bone in it."

"I got it wrong, you're ain't no kitty, just a pussy. You're just a bitch aren't you?" Well, she tried to be nice. She grabbed his hand and twisted hard. The drunk screamed as she heard a loud crack, but his screams were drawing looks her way. And as much as she wanted to keep her promise of breaking every bone in his hand, she needed to beat a hasty retreat because her new number just spotted her.

"I asked you politely to take your hand off me, and you aren't and never will be man enough to tame me," she said softly and deadly just before she shoved the man backwards. He was so drunk already he fell neatly into a pile on the floor. She kept her gaze off her number who was staring at her. "I've been made," she whispered to Finch as she hurried to leave. She just made it out the bar and onto the busy sidewalk before her number caught up with her.

"Hey ma'am, hey hold up." She sighed as she turned around to eye the doctor looking at her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you should be asking the man that laid his hands on me if he's alright. He's the one that needs help," she asnwered turning away. But this doctor hurried to walk beside her.

"I'm Jacob Palmer and you would be...?"

"Going..." she replied, refusing to give her name, causing him to smile.

"I did rush out here to make sure you were alright, doesn't that count for something?"

"No."

"Oh come on, other guys wouldn't have cared."

"Which I would be grateful for."

"I'm a doctor; it's in my nature to make sure everyone is alright."

"A doctor, going to a bar in the afternoon? I say you need to seek Alcoholics Anonymous to help you with your issue, good doctor."

He laughed. "I could say the same thing for you, but I wasn't here to drink."

"I really don't care if you were or not." She said as she got to her car, but when she went to go open the door he stepped in front of it. She sighed as she looked at the man. Jacob Palmer was even better looking up close and personal; his eyes were a beautiful mixture of bluish green, nice full lips, dimples on each cheek, and a cute little scar over his top lip making her wonder how he got it. Her dark gaze traveled up his handsome face to his eyes where she saw male interest. "Move." she hated the tingling feeling that was growing inside her. Damn it, why did she have to be attracted to this guy? He was a god damn goody-two-shoes, their new number, looking for a wife, not a sex partner.

"Only, if you will give me your name."

"Julie."

"Your real name."

"Hannah," she stated just as quickly.

"Your real name," he laughed.

"How come you don't believe me? Are you stalking me or something?" she demanded. She got an unexpected reaction from him; he stiffened and a shadow crossed the handsome man's chiseled features.

"No, I'd never do that to a woman," he murmured quietly before his face changed back to happy again. "I just think you're answering a little too quickly for those to be your real name."

"You're shockingly smart, since that's exactly right. Now move, I don't wish to kick your ass too."

"I'm not drunk so it will be a bit harder for you." She smiled, inwardly knowing without a shadow of a doubt she could kick this man's ass.

"Whatever, just move." She motioned with her hand exasperated, with the tall, gorgeous, and highly annoying man.

"I told you I want a name and then I'll move." She eyed the man, finding him infuriating as well as attractive and intriguing.

"Ms. Shaw you are going to have to give the man a name. Give him your clean cover." She sighed when Finch's voice of reason drowned out her decidedly better idea of just kicking this guy's nice ass so she could get into her car.

"If I give you my name then you'll move out of my way so I can get going?"

"Yes."

"Fine I'm Sameen, Sameen Roberts. Happy now? Now move."

"I'm ecstatic. It's nice to meet you Sameen."

"I wish I could say the same," she said, motioning with her hands; he finally moved from her car door with a wide grin. She climbed in and he waved at her, which she blatantly ignored and drove away. "Finch, he's got a stalker."

"How do you know?"

"I made that comment about if he's stalking me. He's not a very good poker player, it's written all over his face and in his eyes that he's being stalked. We need to check more into his ex-wife, she might be the threat to him."

"I looked up some preliminary information; they had gotten married at the age of twenty-one, had been high school sweethearts. She filed for divorce nearly a year ago; it was finalized four months ago. She goes by her maiden name now, Isabella Wycek. But here's something interesting, Ms. Shaw, she was slapped with a restraining order from Dr. Palmer when she physically attacked him in the courtroom six months ago."

"Why did she attack him?"

"She attacked Dr. Palmer when he had his lawyer prove she was sleeping with another man, which was in violation of her prenuptial agreement she had with him."

"Wait. This guy had a prenuptial agreement drawn up for his high school sweetheart?" That sounded odd. If they got married at twenty one, he wasn't even a doctor by then, so why the need for a prenup?

"Yes, I did a little research as to why as well. His late grandmother took care of him when he was growing up because both his parents died in an auto accident. His grandmother was well off, she had millions of dollars. When his grandmother died, he was the only grandchild, so he inherited two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the rest was donated to several charities of her choice. The prenup was to protect his inheritance, but he added a clause that if she was not faithful she would not get one single penny from him at all."

"Always read the fine print, or at least if you're going to be sleeping around, be sure you're not being followed by a P.I. and being recorded." She rolled her eyes.

"Or just don't be unfaithful," Finch retorted.

She shrugged. As she saw it women had needs just like men did, and she couldn't possibly see how one single man could sate all of those needs.

"Well she's got motive, Finch. I mean she has to be pissed off she didn't get a dime from him out of all those years with him." Shaw continued driving, but with her GPS chip on his car, she could see where he was going at all times. He was going back to the office, which was where she was going to head after she talked with the ex. "Get me an address or a place of work for this Wycek broad, I'll go find out if she's the threat to him or not."

* * *

She leaned her head back against the headrest of her car. Her case was taking one boring turn after another, and she couldn't even switch with Reese. No thank you, he could have the little ankle biting, snot dripping, awful smelling, crying until your ears bled case any day of the week. She was currently waiting for Isabella Wycek to finish her booty call with her apparent boyfriend who was a far cry from Jacob Palmer. This guy was not very good looking, he worked for a car wash, and he lived in the basement of his friend's house. Maybe he was good in the sack? Maybe that's why she gave up Palmer, which would help with her attraction to the guy. If Palmer wasn't good in the sack then he had no value to her.

She needed something to do, and what was better than to annoy Reese? She connected with him and waited one ring until he answered. "What is it Shaw?" Yep, decidedly grumpy, this was perfect for her amusement and entertainment. But before she could even start annoying him, she could hear Carter's voice in the background and she sounded like she was yelling at him.

"Is that Carter yelling at you, what did you do this time? Please don't tell me you got to break and enter or shoot some kneecaps!"

"No," he sounded wistful too. Reese and she shared that in common, probably the only thing they did share. They both enjoyed the rush they got when their lives were at risk and doing something illegal. It was a definite thrill. "Worse, I got a date with Peter's mother." Her brows rose high.

"Wait, you got a date with the new number's mother?" This was getting better and better.

"It's not that big of a deal, Shaw."

"John, that woman was all over you." Carter's voice was loud, so loud she nearly had to take the earpiece out. From Carter's reaction it was a big deal. Reese was dumb when it came to women, they could be practically in his pants before he realized they were into him. Carter dropped hint after hint, but the man needed a damned brick thrown at his head to realize Carter just as into him as he was into her. It was hard to think of Reese being naive, but maybe he was!

"Joss, she was not all over me."

"I was there, remember?" Okay now this **was** entertaining, and she didn't even have to annoy Reese. She leaned back a little and listened as the two argued about it. These two sure knew how to argue, she wondered if the makeup sex was out of this world, since they sure went at it a lot. "She took one look at you; a gorgeous looking guy, holding her son, and that was it. She was so obvious, while you were so oblivious until the moment she asked you out. Where was the stuttering, you stuttered like mad when you asked me out, but when you said 'yes how about tomorrow' you didn't stutter, not once!" Shaw laughed softly at Carter's imitation of Reese's voice. She was pissed.

"Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not jealous! I just think it's a little desperate to be all over a man that just started working at a daycare your son goes to and then ask him out. And you laid it on a little thick about wanting to work with children because of wishing to have a child of your own! She ate that up like catnip."

"Shaw, doesn't it sound like she's jealous?" Reese asked into the earpiece. Carter did sound jealous, but she wasn't jumping into their argument. Even she knew where to draw the line from being annoyingly intrusive to just plain stupid. Plus, Carter was amazing, she would always choose her side before Reese's on everything.

"Oh no Johnny boy, don't include me in this. 'Bros before 'hos, I'm on Carter's side on this; besides I'm just listening in for my amusement."

"Did you just call me a…ho?" he demanded. She smirked at his agitated tone. But before she could irritate him further, Joss's pissed off voice rang through her ears rattling her teeth. "I'll show you jealous, John!" First she heard muffled noises, then a soft moan, and then he disconnected with her. Well damn, they were just getting to the good part. Maybe it was for the best since the woman she'd been waiting for the past half hour finally made it out of the back of her boyfriend's car. The woman blew a kiss towards the man, while Shaw took a photo of him to send to Finch to find out who he was. She connected with Finch while she followed Isabella as she drove away from the car wash parking lot.

"Anything, Ms. Shaw?"

"I just sent you a photo of Wycek's new beau; see if you can get me a name and any information that you can on him. I'm going to have a nice long chat with the ex-wife." She slid from her car when the woman entered a hair salon she currently worked at. Shaw entered, seeing the place was moderately busy. Two other hair stylists were hard at work.

"Need some help?"

"Yes, I just need a trim."

"Head on back, I'm Isabella; I'll be your stylist this afternoon." The woman grinned at her, she was pretty, had long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes that mirrored Reese's, and a heart shaped face. No wonder Palmer married her, but she didn't seem the revenge seeking type. She followed the woman to the salon chair in the back, before sliding to take the seat yanking her hair out of the ponytail. "You have gorgeous hair." She ran it through her fingers and Shaw had to resist the urge to snap at her to get her to cutting rather than playing with it. She didn't have all day to waste getting her hair cut. It was starting to get later in the afternoon, close to the evening time and she wanted to get back to follow Palmer home and once again, try to find some time to get some food, boy, she was hungry.

"Thanks, I got a date tonight, with a really hot guy."

"I just love first dates."

"Yeah, you single?"

"No, I'm in a committed relationship." She eyed the woman through the reflection of the mirror. She sounded happy.

"Well, he'll be my first date since I got divorced a few years back. I swore off men for a while, but I think I'm ready to try again," Shaw said, seeing what type of reaction she would get.

"I'm divorced too. I found my true soul-mate, unfortunately I found him after I married a man that I thought was my soul-mate."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, my ex-husband didn't see it coming; I just didn't love him anymore. I met Maurice and that was it. I never believed in love at first sight until I met him." Could she gag now or later?

"Well my ex saw it coming. He was cheating on me with another woman. I can't believe how many times I believed his lies about where he was going. His name was John, he was screwing a woman he claimed was just a friend, and I believed him until I saw them interact with my own eyes. It was so obvious they were banging one another, so I hired a private investigator to follow him, and I couldn't even be mad at him for cheating on me."

"No?"

"No, because as hurt and angry as I was, by the photos and tapes that my P.I. gathered for me I could see the love in his eyes for her. I guess I just didn't make him happy anymore."

"You are a bigger woman than I could be. If I found out my husband was cheating on me I think I'd cut off his….well you know," Bella retorted. Shaw didn't respond as she starting trimming her hair. So this broad was a hypocrite, it was alright for her to go fucking any guy she had the hots for, while the man better not or he was going to be castrated. "But Jake wasn't like that. He was a good guy, a sweet guy to me, but I just fell in love with Maurice." Okay she just couldn't do the sweet approach anymore, it wasn't getting her anywhere, and it just wasn't her way.

"Is that why you cheated on Jake with Maurice?" The woman paused with the scissors in her hand, their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me; I said 'is that why you cheated on Jake with Maurice?'"

"Who are you?"

"I'm a concerned third party," she answered as the woman went on to finish doing her hair. She saw the irritation on the woman's face, but even being confronted about cheating she was continuing to cut her hair. She wasn't the threat. "Your ex-husband is in trouble, I was making sure you weren't the threat."

"Me," she squeaked, pausing once again in cutting her hair. "I couldn't hurt a fly."

"His restraining order against you says differently."

"That is bogus, Jake was hurt and upset."

"So you didn't attack him in court, you weren't thrown in jail for contempt?"

"No, I was. But I attacked him when he made me out to seem like a whore, I'm not a whore. I fell in love with Maurice, I didn't mean to hurt Jake, it just happened."

"It just happened because he figured out you were cheating on him, he proved it to court so you couldn't get a dime. Talk about motive for wanting him dead."

"No, no I was willing to tell the truth, but Maurice told me not too." Shaw blinked in surprise but covered it up. She slid from the salon chair, and stood up.

"Your boyfriend said to keep it to yourself?"

"Yeah, I was going to tell Jake the truth before I filed for divorce, but Maurice said that I deserved money for living with a man that I was unhappy with. He told me to keep quiet, we'd be careful, and we could be happy." For the love of god, didn't this woman smell the con from a mile away? This guy found out she was married to a rich guy, screwed her, got her to fall in love with him, and wanted the money. Had she been awarded the settlement from Palmer, she bet this Maurice would have stolen the money, and disappeared never to be heard from again. But it fell apart when Palmer got wise to the game, hired the P.I., she needed some info from Finch on this guy, Maurice.

"You're a moron! First off, Jake is way hotter than Maurice whose penis is probably small so some of the money would have gone into penal enlargement." The girl's eyes widened, crimson stained her cheeks. "Yes I saw you two going at it in the backseat of his car. Secondly, can't you see the con, lady? He found out you were married to a doctor who was loaded. Talk about being taken for a damned sucker. Thanks for the trim…and information. You helped me eliminate you as the possible threat, because, honey, you aren't bright enough to kill a fly let alone a person." She threw money onto the counter near the register, while all the other stylists and patrons in the salon watched on with interest. "Keep the change for your tip." She turned and walked towards the exit.

"Ms. Shaw, was embarrassing her in front of her co-workers, name calling, and revealing yourself to her really called for?" Finch demanded as she exited the salon. He was upset with her tactic, but what else was new? She couldn't remain the sweet oblivious woman any longer. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying: 'you'll catch more bees with honey'?"

"Nope, besides I don't care to catch them, I care more about stomping them into the damned ground. But you heard her, she had no idea that Maurice was conning her, did you get a last name?"

"Yes, I ran his face through a facial recognition app; his name is Maurice Landry, he's got a long rap sheet. His worst offense was assault with intent to harm, otherwise the rest were all misdemeanors."

"Doesn't exactly sound like a murderer or stalker, but who else would want to kill Palmer? I already eliminated the ex-wife, she's too dumb to be the threat." She climbed into her car.

"You are going to have to get close to Dr. Palmer." She stabbed her key into the ignition switch but paused from turning her car on.

"What does that exactly entail, Finch?" She knew how close she wanted; no clothes, skin on skin, sweaty, and wrapped between Jacob Palmer's sheets. But her 'close' and Finch's 'close' were probably two different things, since she had a pretty good guess as to what he meant.

"Well it was quite obvious, Ms. Shaw, that Dr. Palmer was smitten with you. Maybe going on a date with him would allow you to get close enough to him, to learn who else might wish for him to perish from Earth." She hated to admit it but Finch was right. Palmer was attracted to her and she had to admit that she was also attracted to him. They needed to find out who the threat was before something happened. He had a stalker; maybe Palmer knew who was stalking him, and could help narrow down the suspects. But that meant she had to go out with the damned goody-two-shoes and not screw him; they had absolutely nothing in common, besides a mutual attraction. She turned her car on driving towards his office building. Maybe Dr Palmer was not the goody-two-shoes she thought, Shaw hoped she was wrong.

"Fine, I'll bump into him when he's leaving the office, make small talk and flirt with him until he asks me out."

"Ms. Shaw, will you be able to…handle this part of your cover?"

"Are you saying I don't know how to pick up a guy?"

"N-o, no, of course not, I just meant that well, you are you, Ms. Shaw, and he's, well, he's not anything like you." Tell her about, she could already tell their 'date' will crash and burn. She didn't do dates, she had sex and that's it.

"I'll play pretend, get him interested, get him to open up about whose stalking him and then that'll be it. He'll be a distant memory." She finally arrived at his office building once more, parking on the curbside. She looked around the surrounding area trying to find a perfect place she could be exiting. She saw a sandwich and soup café close by, making her stomach growl to remind her she was still on an empty stomach. But no time to eat, she needed to figure out a path to run into him. She found his car in the parking lot, deciding if she timed her exit from that café just right, she could run into him 'accidentally' on her way back to her car. "Finch…"

"Yes, Ms. Shaw."

"I see a way I can casually bump into him. I'm going to set the date up for tonight so I can get this over and done with." She had better things to do then pretend to be some investment banker who was looking for love. "What a waste of my evening."

"Why not tomorrow night?"

"Easy Finch, tomorrow night I have Bear! I'm not wasting a night with Bear for this guy." He was so transparent! Finch was trying to convince her to give up her night with Bear, so he could sneak another one in. Not happening. If they ever stopped working together they'd have to have a written visitation agreement.

"Well, I'll just have to send in Detective Fusco as your backup."

"Lionel? No I want Carter."

"She's already going to be on a stakeout tonight." Finch sounded amused by something. "I could try again to advise her that she's not needed, that I'll be there for John; however I have a sinking suspicion it will go unheeded, …again."

"Whoa, hold up, that chick that asked Reese out this afternoon wants the date to happen tonight?"

"Yes, Mr. Reese agreed to it because the child's number came up and he needs to know who is after her that would use the child against her. She doesn't have a father listed for Peter on the birth certificate, so the threat must be coming for her."

"Where's she taking Reese, to Chuck E Cheese?" she sneered.

"Ambiango's." She knew that place; it was very expensive and very romantic. She eyed her watch, she would have to text Carter to tell her to use the taser that she had duct taped to the bottom of the passenger seat of Finch's car on this woman if needed. It was show time for her, Dr Palmer's last patient had to be up since it was nearly five at night. She muted Finch as she exited her car running into the café. She ordered just a half-sandwich and a bottle of water. She looked through the window waiting for the right moment to run into Palmer. When she saw the two nurses and him walking out, waving goodbye to each other, it was the exact moment she left the café. She walked nonchalantly towards her car. She exhaled loudly catching his attention.

"Oh god, not you!"

His face lit up and she was somewhat surprised at how happy he seemed to be to see her. "Sameen, it's my lucky night."

"Please call me Sam, I hate my name," which was the truth, she hated her full name. "Seriously, you have got to be kidding me, are you sure you're not stalking me?"

"I should ask you the same thing, Sam, since I work here."

"You work at the café? I thought you were a doctor. So you lied, trying to get me to go out with you, I should have guessed!" She rolled her eyes as she went to walk around him.

"No, I don't work there. I work here, as a family practice doctor, it's my own business." He pointed to the office building she was walking past, sounding a bit proud of himself but not egotistical. This guy was too good to be true. He walked beside her towards her car. "Wait, were you thinking I was going to ask you out?"

"You were so obvious, it was kind of pathetic."

"Was it the type of pathetic that gets a pity date out of you?"

"I don't pity date any man," she explained. "If I want to go out with a guy, I go out with him."

"So if I asked you out, would you go out with me?"

"I don't know, it depends, since you haven't asked me out" she pointed out as she stopped about halfway towards her car.

"Well Sam, would you like to go out with me sometime?" He had a crooked smile on his face, flashing his cute dimples, and white teeth. She tried to squash the budding flutter in her stomach. She hated being attracted to THIS guy.

"No," she answered quickly before beginning to walk towards her car once more.

"Ouch, you know I have feelings." He hurried to catch up to her. "Why not, since I can clearly tell you like me?"

"Ooh, I like you now?" She laughed at that trying to cover up her surprise again that he could read her so easily. It was another strike against him as to why not to bed this guy for a night. She had a feeling just one night wouldn't be enough and that rattled her just a little. No one she ever bedded could keep her interest for long, but this guy was even interesting out of the sack.

"You followed me."

"I did not follow you," she assured even though it was a lie. "It's just been that sort of day for me, a bad one."

"Come on just admit it, you like me."

"I would if it was true."

"You try really hard not to show it, so is this your version of courting me, because I like it." She snorted with laughter. "But you don't need to try so hard; I'm just a mere man." His smile as he flirted with her made her squirm. Was it hot outside? She needed to take her coat off because she was heating up, and she refused to believe it was this man. He was just another number!

"You must enjoy living in a dream world, where all the women want you."

"No, just where you want me," he flirted. "I only want you, Sam."

"Oh god, are you going to start sprouting off bad pickup lines?" She groaned as she came up to her car and turning to eye him.

"Would they work? I have some doozies."

"If I go out with you, would you promise me NOT to say them?"

"Yes,"

"Fine, I'll go out with you, tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Is that a problem? It's Palmer, right?"

"Call me Jake, and no, of course it's not a problem. I just don't think I can set up a reservation at a nice restaurant on such short notice."

"I didn't say I wanted dinner at a restaurant, I like men that can cook for me, so if you can't cook me dinner then I guess we shouldn't go out."

"Oh, so that's how you going to play it? If you're thinking because I'm a doctor I don't have enough time to learn how to cook, you're wrong. I can assure you Sam, I'll knock your socks off tonight."

"If you're lucky you might get to take something else off." She purred and his eyes darkened in interest. Yep, she had this guy right where she wanted him. "Give me your address; I'll see you around eight." He grinned, pulling out a pen and some paper, writing down his address (though she didn't really need it), and waved goodbye to her.

"See you later, Sam." She didn't bother responding she merely climbed into her car and sped away. She needed to head home and change, while she mentally shook herself for thinking that tonight was going to be her first date she was actually anticipating going on.

* * *

Author's note: Sigh, I tried Gretchen, if you hate it let me know and I'll write you any Careese fic at any setting, with any plotline you want. I went the route of having an opposites attract thing with Jake and Shaw, I thought a guy that was everything she thought she disliked and yet was still attracted too was a fun idea to play with. Plus I just like the idea of Jakes, a guy that likes to have fun, flirt, and is a sweet in nature man :)

Well I hope you guys could enjoy it...I had fun making up Jake, plus the added Careese always makes me SQUEE since they are my babies :) :) Thank you for reading, there is 4 chapters in total for this, all of them are long except for the final chapter :D


	2. Chapter 2

Shaw was sure this night was going to be a disaster as she opened her small clutch, yanking out her nano before sliding it back in and zipping it back up. She slid from her car after arriving at Jake's apartment complex, she tapped her earpiece. "Hi Lionel."

"Hey lunatic, I can't believe you actually got this guy to go out with you. Does he know exactly who you are?"

"No, he thinks I'm an investment banker."

"Oh, makes sense now." She walked towards the complex. "Can you make this quick? I have better things to do than listen to you on a date with some unsuspecting fool?!"

"Well you weren't my first choice for backup either; I much prefer Carter, then Reese, then Finch then maybe even Root before you."

"With that kind of compliment it's hard to understand why no one likes you." He sneered. She entered the complex determined to get this date done and over with quickly. She needed to steer the conversation to learn as much as she could about him while offering very little of herself. Once she got some new leads, she'd called it a night and end the disastrous date. When she found his apartment number, she knocked loudly on the door. It opened nearly a second after her hand moved from the door, it swung open and she stared. Palmer sure looked good. His hair was immaculate, not a single lock of hair strayed from its gelled prison. He was wearing a dark blue dress shirt that brought out the blue hue in the mixture of colors in his eyes. The top two buttons were undone, allowing her to see a nice tanned and hairless chest. She licked her lips before sliding her gaze down his body to his khakis. All in all he looked hot.

"Well it's good to know you are a woman that's on time." She inhaled, the intoxicating aroma was coming from the kitchen.

"You can cook."

"You sound surprised, or is that disappointment that you can't flee the first second you could?"

"It's a mixture." He smiled.

"A woman that's honest, I like that."

"You just like women." He shot her a crooked smile before sliding the door shut. She slid her coat from her body, seeing him stop to stare at her.

"Wow, Sam you look beautiful." He didn't say it, he breathed it. She felt beautiful under his stare and womanly. Not at all like an ex-assassin that she was, just a woman. The black dress dipped in front, it was skintight, and short, just like she liked. She had worn this many times picking up men while working for Control, but they never made her feel this womanly in it. He went to take her coat and clutch.

"I can manage." She assured him, turning to hang up her coat on the rack, determined to carry her clutch with her. He was just like any number, he was just like any number, she repeated to herself. She turned and found Jake standing directly in front of her. She had to lean her head back to look into his eyes. She felt tiny compared to him.

"What's wrong, Sam?"

"Haven't you ever heard of personal space?" she demanded trying not force her way out with her fists. He was too close, his cologne filled her nostrils, and she didn't like what it was doing to her. He took a step back.

"Is that better?"

"No," she brushed past him and put more space between them. "Now that's better." He stared at her but didn't say a word. He shot her a grin before motioning with his hand.

"You want a quick tour?"

"Sure why not? This screams a bachelor pad."

"Why, because I'm a single man and a doctor?" he asked while his smile never wavered. "You know that's stereotyping." She shrugged.

"I've been out with enough men to know a bachelor pad when I see one." He merely motioned for her to follow him. She followed him around as he gave her the tour of his gorgeous apartment. It was nice, roomy, and well lived in. It was masculine, it was nicely decorated, but it didn't put you off when you first walked the space. "Okay, you're right, I stereotyped you," she admitted when the tour ended as they arrived in his kitchen. It had stainless steel appliances, white cabinets and a dark colored granite countertop.

"Apology accepted,"

"I didn't know I apologized, but okay if it makes you feel better." He merely picked up the pot top to stir before turning to pour them some wine. He handed her a glass while he held out his.

"A toast."

"To what?"

"To you."

"Me?"

"Yes, for coming to your senses and going out with me." She laughed, shocking herself since it was a real, genuine laugh.

"So what are you making for me?" she sniffed the air.

"I figured you to be a spicy type woman."

"Oh, how did you come to that conclusion?"

"I don't know, call it a hunch." He smirked and she sipped her wine as he took a sip of his own motioning for her to follow him. She rounded the L shaped counter coming up to the stove. He lifted the lid to the pot, and she inhaled the scent. "My grandmother's old fashioned chili; in the oven are spicy beef enchiladas, and on the side a salad is on tap for dinner tonight."

"Sounds and smells good, but the bigger question is what's for dessert?"

"I could be a cad and say me," he teased, making her smile. She couldn't believe it but she was having fun with him. He was nothing she would normally go for, she wasn't looking for conversation or dates, just sex, but this was okay since he wasn't her type and he was her number. She didn't mix business with pleasure, that was Reese's shtick not hers. "But I ventured out and got us some cherry tarts from a little bakery on the way home. They are delicious, you'll love it."

"Says you."

"Says anyone's taste buds," he corrected. He lifted the spoon he was using to stir the chili and picked up some of the sauce. "Taste this," he cupped his left hand under the spoon as he turned to hold out some for her. This was way the hell too intimate for her liking but she was helpless to do anything but taste it. She closed her eyes, it was one of the best tasting chili recipes she'd ever had. The only chili she tasted better was Reese's, but not by much.

"It's good."

"My grandmother loved to cook, it was her passion."

"What was your parents' passion?" She knew he lost his parents at a young age, but she needed to get him to open up so she could ask the questions to find out who wanted to hurt him. She saw a flicker of sadness before his eyes lightened up.

"I don't know actually, I lost both my parents at a young age due to a careless driver."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, my grandmother told me a lot about them. My grandmother that raised me was my mom's mother and she used to tell me stories about my mom when she was growing up. She said she and I were the same, we wanted to heal people."

"Your mom was, what, a nurse?"

"Yeah, she was an ER nurse and she loved it. My dad was an accountant for a large company."

"How old were you when you lost them?"

"Six."

"About the same age as I was when I lost my dad." She murmured as she sipped her wine.

"You lost your dad?"

"He was the only person I ever loved." She looked away.

"You end up in the system?"

"Yeah, I didn't have much family, and after my Dad was gone I drifted from foster home to foster home. Everyone wants babies, not older kids." She shrugged. "Didn't really matter, I wouldn't have felt like I really belonged with them anyway, even if someone wanted to adopt me."

"Why?" he asked leaning his hip against the countertop to look directly at her.

"No reason," she backtracked, not about to admit to having a personality disorder. Telling a prospect that you have a personality disorder, they take one look at you and think you're a loony-toon. No she needed this date to last long enough to learn what she came here for. Why someone wanted him dead! He looked like he was going to ask her more about it but he seemed to think better of it.

"So, Sam what do you for a living?" he changed the subject which she was grateful for as he stirred the pot again, then opened the oven up to make sure the enchiladas were coming along. He motioned for her to follow him and she did. He led her to the dining room where he had the small table that could seat four already made up for them. He held the chair out for her, for she guessed was chivalrous but she inhaled more of that damn intoxicating cologne he was wearing. He shared one thing in common with Finch, Fusco, and Reese; all three of them smelled good all the time, and so did Jake.

"I'm an investment banker at a local company."

"Sounds….interesting," he paused which made her smile. He remained standing so she had to lean back in her chair to meet his eyes.

"No it's not."

"Well you said it, not me." She rolled her eyes before watching him make his way to the stove. Her eyes strayed to his ass before lifting as he turned around. "It sounds like it doesn't make you happy."

"I love my job," she grinned thinking of her real job. The one where she got to shoot people; sadly only in the kneecaps but she still got to shoot them, she got to break and enter, and boss Reese around sometimes. She got to keep Bear from time to time, aggravate Finch, annoy Fusco and Reese, threaten Root, and hangout with Carter; all in all her life had taken a header when her country betrayed her, but got better thanks to Finch and Reese giving her a new job.

"You're an enigma." She looked at him, startled as he pulled out two bowls placing the steaming, hot, chili in them up to the brim. He turned and carried the two bowls towards where she was sitting. Once that was placed down he grabbed the two empty plates seated on the table before making his way over to the oven once more. He squatted down opening the oven, putting a gray oven mitt on, and pulled out the enchiladas.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because when you said you are an investment banker you sounded like you hated your job, but then you say you love it and you look like you do. You're hard to figure out Sam."

"I like to keep you on your toes."

"You do, don't you." He chuckled. "How many enchiladas do you want, Sam?"

"Just one will be enough."

"Don't trust my cooking do you?"

"Nope!" she chuckled, again surprising herself. He carried the two plates filled with cheesy beef enchiladas, setting a plate in front of her and one in front of his seat.

"What kind of salad dressing do you prefer? I've got Italian, Ranch, and Raspberry-Vinaigrette?" he rubbed his hands together as he spoke.

"All low-fat?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, to other women, maybe, but not to me, just give me Ranch." He got the dressing out for them and handed it to her before sitting down across from her.

The dinner went on, they spoke about mundane things like how he enjoyed being a doctor, about his ex-wife, who Shaw had already ruled out of being a suspect, and even his plans for his future. But nothing he said gave any indication as to who was stalking him and who wanted him dead. Once dinner was over she saw it was already past nine o'clock, and Fusco was whining in her ear about how he had a life that didn't include listening to her pussy-foot around with a guy. He was so lucky she couldn't respond back to him, since she had a few choice words for him.

Jake tried hard to get her to open up, but every time the conversation steered towards her, she changed the subject. The cherry tarts they had for dessert were delicious, he hadn't been lying about that and she was stuffed. She stood up from the table as she casually glanced at her watch seeing that the date was nearly over, yet she hadn't learned anything that could help her. She sat down on his dark brown suede couch, before patting beside her with one hand while sipping the second glass of wine he poured for her.

"Can we talk?" she purred, determined to stop keeping him at arm's length. She had been constantly on guard with him, trying to keep her attraction to him from clouding her professional judgment, but it got her nowhere. She needed to ramp up her plans because she needed to learn something or this date was all for nothing, or so she tried to convince herself. He walked over, sitting down beside her, and eyed her patiently.

"About how you won't tell me anything about yourself," he suggested.

"I've told you about myself."

"Your age, your occupation, and losing your only family you ever known, is not talking about yourself. You ask me all types of questions but the moment I ask you one, you clam up."

"I don't know you." She sipped her wine before continuing. "I don't share my life with men I go out with on the first date."

"No, how are they supposed to know if they want a second date or not, or do you not date?"

"Excuse me?"

"I get the distinct feeling you don't date very often, you're not looking for a husband are you?" He looked a little sad by that. "You're living in the here and now, looking for fun not love."

"You're right, I'm not looking to get married I'm looking to have some fun. So, does that mean you're looking for love?"

"I am. I'm looking for a woman I can call my wife, I miss being married and sharing my life with someone."

"So what happened to your marriage if you love having a wife? All you said was it didn't work out, what you'd do, cheat on her?"

"No of course not, more like she cheated on me and then had the nerve to try to swindle me out of my inheritance."

"So what happened?"

"I proved she was unfaithful to me breaking the prenuptial agreement."

"You had a prenup?"

"Yeah, my grandmother advised me to do so when I was younger, before I even thought of getting married. She wanted me protected."

"Sounds like a smart woman since this woman could have taken you to the cleaners." He merely nodded, taking a sip of his wine all the while watching her. She needed to get new, useful information from him. They sat in silence for a moment; he seemed to be mulling something over as he stared at her. She broke the silence first. "I've been meaning to ask you something, Jake."

"Shoot."

"When I asked if you were stalking me earlier this afternoon at the bar, you looked like you knew how it felt. You ever been stalked before?" She noticed the stiffening of his body. He remained quiet for a while, she wasn't sure if he was going to answer her or not, but he finally spoke.

"Yeah, actually I'm going through it right now."

"Wow, I'm sorry you don't have to tell me anymore." Come on, be a typical blabber mouth, once someone told you not to speak anymore about a certain subject that's all they wanted to do.

"No, no it's okay, I have nothing to hide. It's nothing to be ashamed of, the police are on it, but without it escalating they can't do much of anything for me." Damn civilization, that was the problem with laws and rules sometimes; they protected the stalkers, kidnappers, murderers, and rapists more than the victims.

"No of course, do you know who is harassing you?"

"Yeah I do know who is doing it and why." He spoke slowly before sipping his wine.

"Well, who is it?"

"A former patient of mine, her name was Dianne Paliloni, well actually her ex, Tim. She'd come in every so often I; noticed bruising and other marks on her body. It took me a few times seeing old injuries to realize she was being abused by her husband." She clenched her teeth, and her free hand balled into a fist. "I counseled her to leave him, she would try but he wouldn't let her. One time she'd been beaten so badly the neighbor called the police; he was arrested and I testified at his trial. He got five years, but it was enough to dissolve his marriage, allow her freedom, and she disappeared. I don't even know where she is. But uh, Tim got out a few months ago and the first thing he did was come around my offices, I told him to cease, or I'd get a restraining order placed against him."

"So instead he's harassing you outside of work."

"Yeah it's nothing that I can't handle, Sam. He's a drunk now, he's harmless."

"He's holding a grudge against you for losing his wife; I don't think he's that harmless." This was the first bit of news she got that meant she might be getting close to who wanted to hurt him. "His name is Timothy Paliloni," she spoke softly as she stood up turning her entire body. "Fusco, get Finch on it," she whispered quietly as she sucked down the last of the wine. She turned putting the empty wine glass on the coffee-table. He looked up at her. "I got to get going, I'm busy tomorrow." He shook his head casually grabbing her hand, pulling her back onto the couch.

"I told you something no one knows about me, I mean you know I have a stalker." He grinned. "So can you answer just one of my questions?"

"Fine, just one."

"If I asked you out for a second date would you agree to go out with me again?"

"Why, when you're looking for a wife and love, while I'm looking for sex and fun? We are both in separate places, I don't want love and I sure the hell don't want to be anyone's wife."

"Because I really like you, you intrigue me, and I can't help but think you want the same things as I do, you just won't let yourself feel it."

"Date's over." She announced. She was done trying to get close to him, to learn more about who would want to kill him. She got a new lead and she was going to run with it. If it didn't result in anything she was going back to just following him around, making sure whatever threat was coming after him was neutralized, and she'd never see him again. Her eyes were on his before she turned away making her way to where her jacket was hanging on the coat rack near the door.

"I think….it's easier for you to run off then to feel something." She turned to eye him as she yanked her black jacket on.

"You don't know anything about me." She didn't have feelings, which she wasn't going to tell him because she didn't care enough to, she tried to rationalize with herself.

"I know enough."

"Oh, enlighten me, by all means." She flicked her long dark hair out from under the collar of her jacket. He slowly stood up, the rumpled look he wore worked well on him she thought absently.

"This entire evening, you spoke about yourself maybe a sentence or two, making me answer a whole barrage of your questions. But when it came time for you to reciprocate your answers were either vague or answered with a question. You were careful, we never touched, your eyes darted around as if waiting for us to be attacked or something. You're guarded, Sam."

"Well, you ask terrible questions, I found myself bored and wishing to leave the entire night, and I'm not attracted to you in the least, so I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole. This date, as I figured it would be, was a disaster and thanks for ruining my first date in years." She didn't mean a word of what she just spit out.

"You try really hard to disinterest me, but it just doesn't work, because I know that deep down, Sam, you like me." He continued walking, invading her personal space, forcing her to take a step back.

"What, your ego just can't take no for an answer?" She demanded, but a light shining from the window across from his apartment complex caught her eye.

"My ego when I'm with you hurts a lot." Her eyes were on the window so she didn't notice him moving towards her until he was in her line of vision. "But to answer your question, you're right, I'm not taking no for an answer." He breathed before his head swooped down and captured her lips with his. She stood surprised as his large palm was on her lower back holding her to him, while his other hand settled in her hair. She kissed him back hungrily. His lips were soft, but firm. He didn't allow her to control the kiss which incited her to tug him closer as his tongue slipped between her lips. She immediately pushed back. His eyes were on her mouth, she stood up on her tip toes to look past him to the window, and her eyes widened when a small laser dot landed on the back of his head.

"Get down!" she shouted, ramming him in the midsection, she landed on top of him, her hand going for her gun that was strapped to her thigh. The window shattered as the sniper bullet ripped through, hitting Palmer's door splintering some of the wood. She hit a button on her earpiece as she climbed off of him, running to the window.

"Fusco, we were just shot at from an apartment complex across the street from Jake's!"

"Yeah I saw that, are you and the guy alright?"

"We're good, he's a little shaken up but good." she eyed him as he shook slightly from his rooted spot on the hardwood floor of his loft. "I'm going to take him to a nearby safe house."

"I got a runner!" Fusco shouted, his breath sounded rough in her ear already, and she disconnected with him. She wished she could help Fusco with pursuit of the sniper, but she needed to get Jake to safety first.

She immediately crouched away from the window after one last glance. "Pack a bag, Palmer, you're coming with me."

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the woman that's trying to save your life. Now go pack a bag, I need to take you someplace safe, and then you and I are going to figure out who the hell wants to kill you." 

* * *

Author's note: So I am getting a couple requests to do the Careese side of this, I might do it because it would be filled with fluff, smut, and well...more fluff. But, I hope you are enjoying. I am posting chapter 3 as well, I'm trying to get all of your present posted before the new year Gretchen lol.

Thank you to everyone that is reading, and giving this Shaw story a chance, I appreciate it so much.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who are you?"

"You know, Jake, you've been asking me that since I brought you to this safe location and I haven't answered yet. What makes you think I'm going to answer now?" He paced the floor of the safe house she currently had him at. They had argued the entire drive over about how he wouldn't be able to go to work this morning, since it was past midnight. The man did not like that he had to cancel appointments. Fusco was at the crime scene across from Jake's apartment, he was going to call her the moment he learned anything. The door to the safe house, jiggled and before long Finch, Reese, and Carter entered. "Took your sweet time arriving didn't you?"

"Who are they?"

"We are just concerned citizens, Dr. Palmer, as your life is in grave danger. Ms. Shaw was trying to keep you safe." Palmer's eyes strayed towards hers before going back to the group in front of him. "You can call me Harold," Finch offered.

"I'm John," Reese said in his dry, muted tone.

"I'm Detective Carter."

"Oh thank god, someone called the police, someone shot at me and Sam on our date. I'm not sure who the hell she really is, but she took charge, and it was kind of hot." Reese made a face, Carter smirked, and Harold smiled. Shaw grabbed Palmer's elbow yanking him towards the corner of the room.

"Zip your mouth, Palmer."

"Now it makes sense why you had two separate reactions about your job, you love this one while your cover story bores you. Is Sameen your real name, _Ms. Shaw_?"

"Yes it's my real name, Palmer. Once your life isn't in danger any longer we will never see each other ever again." She assured him, but a corner of her really didn't want that to happen. She tried to tuck it away as much as possible.

"Oh, I see now that places my life in even more danger." She furrowed her brows trying to figure out what he meant by that. "Because you can't live without a heart." She snorted with disbelief.

"Man, you need to work on some pickup lines, that's nearly worse than; 'do you come here often'!" He smirked before turning to eye the others.

"So who is that man?" He pointed towards Reese who was prowling the apartment like a caged animal. Carter was leaning over Finch's shoulder as he worked on his laptop, speaking quietly with him. "Are you two dating?"

"Oh god no," she couldn't help the disgust tingeing her voice. Reese was not her type, not at all; besides he was all Carter's. "He's banging Carter nightly." She said loud enough to torment Reese just a bit. He hated when his personal life was talked about. This time was no different; if looks could kill, she'd be nothing but dust.

Although it wasn't Reese that commented on her crude remark, but rather Carter. "Shaw, don't rile John up anymore. He's in an already bad mood, as am I," she explained, but Shaw noticed with a smirk that she did not refute the claim that they had sex night after night. But she sensed that this time Carter wasn't in the mood for anymore jokes, so for once she heeded the warning, and left it alone. She wondered what happened. They must have finished up with the other number since they came by to help her with Palmer.

"So how was your fake date Reese? Mine sort of ended with Jake here getting shot at."

"Our date was not fake, Sam."

"Yeah it was," she assured him, but she noticed with interest that Reese stiffened, Carter's face exploded in anger, and Finch paled a bit. Something happened on his fake date!

"Oh dear, not this again," Finch murmured as he hunched further over the laptop, not looking up as his fingers moved quickly over the keyboard. Carter straightened, crossing her arms across her chest, sending a look that could possibly melt ice towards Reese.

"Go ahead tell her, John." Shaw resisted the urge to smile wickedly at Reese, loving it that Carter could make the ex-CIA agent squirm. She was so enthralled with watching a man so sure of himself look so out of sorts, that she didn't hear Jake move directly behind her so he could lean down to whisper in her ear.

"She looks scary when she's angry," he whispered, it curled around her, and made a shiver race down her spine.

"We closed the case tonight; it was Peter's father that was the threat to the child. The father wanted to be in his life, so he hired a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend Julianna and kidnap the boy."

"So it ended in guns blazing, your life in danger, and Carter pissed off thanks to your recklessness. Sounds like our night, right Jake?" Reese and Jake merely nodded their heads in agreement; however her eyes were on Carter's who shook her head adamantly.

"No, he's leaving out that he went back to her place, where she straddled him on the couch before ramming her tongue down his throat. And THEN he was attacked!"

"She did not ram her tongue down my throat."

"Please, she was searching for your tonsils." Carter snarled. "If that hitman hadn't interrupted when he had, I think I would have done as Shaw suggested and tasered her ass!"

"Ms. Shaw, Detective Fusco, gave me a description of the male shooter that sniped at Dr. Palmer, please," Finch spoke up while Reese and Carter moved into a corner of the room to argue quietly amongst themselves. Shaw and Jake moved towards him, looking down as he pulled up a mug-shot of a Timothy Paliloni. She eyed him accusatory.

"Harmless, huh, you failed to mention that Paliloni was a former sniper in the army."

"I didn't quite realize that our date was just for you to dig out information from me about who might want to kill me, Sam."

"He received a dishonorable discharge when he kept showing up drunk. It seems his alcoholism had started well before he lost his wife, as he lost his career because of it. Dr. Palmer, how long has he been stalking you?"

"Few months, mostly it was just him saying I cost him his wife, I didn't realize he had been thinking of killing me."

"He must have snapped, because we didn't get Jake's name until last night. He upped his game to kill him instead of merely harass him. I wonder why that is; you'd think he would just have killed Jake months ago if it was just about his ex-wife."

"Wait, Ms. Shaw, you think there is another reason as to why?"

"I don't know; I just think it's suspicious that's all."

"Hold that thought, Detective Fusco is calling." Finch put him onto speaker phone. Shaw looked to the pair in the corner, before rolling her eyes. Reese's eyes gave him away, they kissed and made up, and surely they were looking to find the closest bed around. "Yes anything else to report, detective?"

"Yea, actually there is. We got the name of the person who rented the room, his name is Maurice Landry."

"The guy that was screwing my ex-wife rented out the apartment that a former sniper tried to kill me from." Well, well that was kind of coincidental wasn't it? Too coincidental for her to believe, they had to be working together to off Palmer.

"There was no sign of forced entry, it looked like the guy was let in, there was a chair near the window, and an ashtray with several smoked cigarettes. CSU is already getting the DNA off the cigarettes; but these guys are either the dumbest criminals ever, or they were in a hurry to get away when he shot and missed."

"Why, Lionel?"

"Because they left the scope behind, CSU is dusting it for prints as we speak."

"Why would Maurice want me dead? I mean he already stole my wife, what else does he want from me?"

"He didn't want Isabella, Jake, he wanted your money," Shaw spoke up. He eyed her perplexed. "He found out you were a doctor, loaded, and she was horny for another man. He screwed her, got her to fall in love with him, and then got her to want to divorce you. She must have mentioned the prenup to him, because he wanted her to hide it, but you wised up and hired a private investigator. His scam was busted, so either he's pissed that he didn't get any money from you, or figured he could kill you and then rob you. They'd look at your ex first, or he's using this drunken fool to be his scapegoat, since it's well established he's stalking you." She checked her clip in her gun.

"Possibly, if my ex-wife told him about the prenup she probably told him I don't trust many banks, that I have my own security box in my home."

"Dr. Palmer, why do you have two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in your home security box?" She echoed Finch's disbelief because that was idiotic, and Palmer didn't appear to be stupid to her.

"I don't have that kind of money in there, most of that went in on paying off my mortgage of my loft, there's only twenty-five thousand in it."

"Well either way, these two are stupid; Landry is a dumb criminal while Paliloni is a drunken fool. I have an idea as to where Landry went, but Paliloni is anyone's guess." Shaw shifted her gaze between Jake and Finch, before looking over to where Carter and Reese stood deep in conversation. "Hey, Reese I need to borrow your girlfriend." They sprung apart while glaring at her. Carter reluctantly let go of Reese's hand and she and Carter both walked to the door.

"When will you be back?" Jake called out. She paused, startled again when she realized he didn't want her to leave.

"You'll know," and with that she exited with Carter beside her. 

* * *

"So you and Jake," Carter murmured as she drove them towards Isabella Wycek's home. "Is it really strictly he's a number you're protecting, because it sure doesn't seem like it to me."

"Carter, stay out of it."

"Why, you never stay out of my business?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Shaw, you make comments about John and my relationship all the time. You love to make him uncomfortable, especially with announcing our sexual activities to anyone that will listen. I get it, you like to needle him, but don't tell me to stay out of your business when you don't stay out of mine."

"Touché, Carter."

"So what's the deal?"

"There's no deal."

"No? Because it sure seems like there is a deal. It sure seems like he likes you and you are just as smitten."

"I can assure you, Carter, I've never been smitten with a guy ever in my life. I'm just not wired for that, besides he's a goody-two-shoes."

"Not every guy out in the world has to be a dangerous bad-boy to get a girl's attention. Sometimes opposites attract, this doctor got to you."

"Oh you mean like Reese got to you?" she turned it around back onto Carter not wishing to reveal anything to anyone, knowing the subject would be dropped. Carter was just as private about her feelings as she was.

"Yeah, sort of," she agreed, shocking her. They enjoyed shooting the breeze about past military achievements and enjoying a beer here or there, but not once did they even venture into personal talk. "John is unlike any guy I've ever been with. He's not emotionally available on most days; he's got scars on his soul that I'm not even sure I could ever heal. But he tries and that's all I can ask from him, because that's all anyone can do is try. On paper John is not the type of man I'd be attracted too, he's a criminal and I'm a cop."

"Carter, I'm an ex-assassin, he's a doctor, we have even less in common than you and Reese do."

"You think being with John is easy? It's not. It would be easier to date a doctor; at least I'd know where he would be at."

"I didn't know you wanted to keep tabs on Reese, why don't you make him wear a leash?" Shaw grumbled not really understanding why she was getting defensive. But she was. She didn't want to talk about Jake, or any of this.

"I meant I won't find him bleeding out somewhere." Carter's tone shifted from light to angry. "I love that man with my whole heart, but it's not easy to think that one day he's just not going to come back. Every new number you, Finch, and John get is another suicide mission. His life is in danger constantly, he works outside of the law, and I can't be there to protect him. So don't sit here and tell me how easy I got it, I don't, not when any day could be the last I see John."

"But there is a crucial difference between you and I, Carter; you have feelings, I don't. I don't feel anything, ever. My personality disorder makes it so I'm numb to every emotion except anger."

"How come?" she blinked startled.

"W-what, what do you mean?"

"How come your personality disorder makes you numb to EVERY emotion, but anger?"

"I don't know; it's how I always been, Carter."

"No, anger is the only emotion you'll allow yourself to feel. The others are there, you just won't take the time to let yourself feel them, and that's a shame."

"Why?"

"Because you're not truly living your life, you use your personality disorder as a crutch so as not to form any kind of lasting emotional relationship." Shaw stiffened. She was hitting too close to home. But she stubbornly refused to admit it. "Remember, Shaw, I helped Finch and John save you. I know all about your stint in foster home after foster home when your dad died. You were never diagnosed with the disorder, so I'm assuming you diagnosed yourself. You're very intelligent, which was how you got into med school in the first place, dropped out and entered the military."

"Carter, I'm done going down memory lane, and we arrived at Wycek's place." She motioned to the rundown apartment complex. Carter didn't bother saying anything else, she'd said her piece, and she was done with the topic. That was why Shaw liked Carter, because she reminded her of Cole. It was why she listened to her, hung out with her, and valued her as a partner. They climbed out of the car.

"So you think Landry came back here to the ex-wife's place to hide out?"

"Yeah, if he's that dumb to have rented out an apartment across from Jake's to kill him so he could rob him, I think him running to the ex is very plausible."

"I'm hoping you're right, I just want to head home I'm beat."

"Hot makeup sex with Reese tonight?" they both pulled out their guns. Carter merely shrugged with a smirk on her face, which was answer enough. Those two were way too horny for one another.

Carter motioned for her to remain in the shadows, and she knocked hard on the door to Isabella's townhouse. "NYPD, I'm Detective Carter, open up!" she shouted. They both heard footsteps, before the door opened slowly, and Wycek's face appeared between the crack of the door.

"What's going on, is Maurice in trouble?" Interesting, that she immediately thought of Landry, yep, he was definitely here.

"He's wanted for questioning, is he in there ma'am?" Carter flashed her badge. The woman didn't answer, while Carter seemed to be in a bit of a hurry tonight, and her sweet tone took an edge. "If you are hiding him, I could arrest you for obstructing an investigation, now is he here?" Shaw watched as a large man came around from the back of the complex running down the street.

"He's on the run, Carter!" Shaw shouted as she took off after him. She heard Carter's heels hitting the pavement behind her as she followed. "Why do they always run?" Shaw complained as they followed the man.

"No idea," they had to weave through the crowd as they followed him. If she had a clear shot she would take out his kneecap but unfortunately he was weaving in and out of people. "Come on Shaw, I know a shortcut." Carter motioned. Shaw decided to listen to her, she usually did things her way, but she trusted Carter's instincts. They ran together down an empty alleyway, losing sight of Landry.

"I hope this leads to the same way he's going Carter."

"Trust me I've chased down enough stupid criminals in my day. This alleyway will lead us to him."

They both were huffing in air. Shaw got an incoming call from Reese. She clicked her earpiece. "What?" she asked between gulps of air.

"Fusco has Paliloni in custody; he was at a bar near the crime scene, he was so drunk he passed out against the dumpster near the bar."

"Carter and I are in pursuit of Landry."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Don't bother us, women do it better." She smirked as Carter collided with Landry, taking him down with a damned cool tackle. She aimed her pistol at Landry who flung Carter off of him, like she weighed less than a feather. "Go ahead run, give me a reason to shoot your ass." Shaw grinned at Landry. He didn't go to run, but rather he took a swing at her. She ducked and smashed her fist into his face, smiling as he yowled grabbing at his nose. Carter got to her feet slowly watching him scream like a little pansy. Shaw shrugged; she'd been wanting action all damned day today. She wasn't going to miss the chance at landing at least one punch.

"NYPD, put your hands on your head, and slowly get to your knees, no sudden movements." She advised as she pulled her handcuffs out. Shaw kept her gun trained on him, hoping he gave her a reason to clip him in the knee.

"I didn't do anything," Landry cried.

"Funny, you should start with that without running and someone might have believed you." Carter tugged his left arm behind his back snapping the cuff on before going for his right. Blood oozed from his nose, while Carter called it in on her cell phone.

She lowered her weapon with a smirk on her face, eyeing Carter. "Reese, you better worship your girlfriend, she's fucking amazing!" Carter merely eyed her with a shake of her head as she finished getting back up.

"I know she is," Reese's soft response nearly made her roll her eyes. He wanted to hit up Carter, right now didn't he? "You both alright though, right?"

"Yeah, yeah we're both fine, Reese." She assured him, he worried about everyone but himself. Sirens filled the air; she needed to get away before the police arrived.

"You should go, Shaw, I got this. How about you go take Jake home while I call John to pick me up?" She glared at Carter who merely smiled at her. Shaw put her gun in the back of her pants before waving goodbye to Landry. She headed back towards her car.

"Reese, go pickup your girlfriend," she spoke and he disconnected with her in answer. She had a feeling that even if she offered to wait for her, that would have gone unwanted, she hoped they had condoms in Reese's car. 

* * *

Author's note: See this is where I think I could have really liked Shaw, because of Carter. I could see her bonding with Carter, listening to her, taking her advice or even the kick in the pants she needs to heart. Carter has that way about her. I'm still hopeful that I could like Shaw, I guess for me its still a wait and see what they do with her thing.

I have one more chapter for this small little fic, if you are waiting for the Careese update its coming :D Like after I finish posting this!

Thank you for reading, as always I appreciate you all XOXOXOXO


	4. Chapter 4

Days had gone by since they finished up both their cases on the same night. Carter made Reese work for her forgiveness over having some other broad's tongue down his throat. Shaw hadn't seen Jake since taking him home during the morning when Finch had workers repairing his window for him. Jake had asked her out for a real date, which she declined, and she left immediately after. But since then she hadn't been able to get him out of her mind. She wondered what he was doing, was he dating someone off that dating website? They didn't have a new number and she was quite bored. She hadn't been able to go out and find a bed partner just to ease the frustration she was feeling thanks to Jake.

She sat in her car, munching on a chocolate bar near Jake's apartment. Her eyes glued to her binoculars, gazing at high zoom through his newly replaced window. He had the weekends off, and he was in his loft currently, working out. He was doing chin ups on a bar he had bolted across the doorway of the office in his place. Sweat trickled down his sleek form into his black mesh workout shorts. He had a barbed wire tattoo wrapped around his left bicep, his pecs and abs were nicely defined. For fuck's sake, she couldn't endure this any longer, she wanted him it would be just a one-time thing and then it would be over. She needed to work him out of her system, once would have to be enough, because she did not have repeat sexual encounters with the same man or woman after one night. She slid from her car, walking quickly to the ritzy complex of his. This was insane, he was nothing like what she wanted, but she couldn't say she didn't like what she saw. She immediately made her way to his place, instead of knocking she pulled her lock pick out. She quickly picked it and let herself in, before shutting the door behind her.

"Sure just let yourself in," he called out not even sounding like he was winded. Their eyes met as she moved further into his place, he didn't stop doing his chin ups. "What are you doing here, Sam?" he asked as he dropped down. He stood staring at her, while she just merely walked over to him without answering him.

"I want to clear something up with you."

"Okay?" He grabbed a towel that he had by him and wiped at his face. "What?" he asked after moving to the room beside the study where his laundry room was, slinging the towel in the hamper. He never broke eye contact.

"You're not my type, you're a Dudley-Do-Right, you are looking for a wife you want kids and I hate kids. I think marriage is a waste of time because there is no way one man or one woman is enough for anyone. Sex is all I can offer any man or woman it's all I want in return, no strings attached and no commitments."

"So what are you doing here? I got it when I asked you out and you told me no. Sam, I like you, I never lied about that, and even knowing you aren't a real investment banker doesn't scare me away. But I won't pursue you if you don't wish it; I'll respect your answer of no."

"Damn it," she growled hating that he was turning her on, why couldn't he just be like every other Joe Blow out there? Why did he have to be so damned good? She took the few necessary steps forward, grabbing the back of his neck, and yanked him down so she could kiss him. His surprise melted away as he kissed her back; she wasn't one to give up control, so she controlled the kiss. She shoved her tongue between his lips, searching his mouth, loving the taste of mint she found. His hands rested on her hips before sliding up her body, and disappeared into her hair that for some reason was not pulled back in a ponytail like normal. She had allowed it down. He sought control of the kiss, and she found herself yielding to him. He broke the kiss first, cupping her cheeks.

"I'm not in it for just sex, Sam." His mesmerizing bluish-green eyes searched hers.

"It's all I offer, Palmer." She tried to take a step back but he wouldn't allow her. "It's why I'm here, one night, that's it."

"You came and broke into my place, Sam, wanting just one night with me? You really think I could only want to be with you for one night? I cancelled my membership to that online dating service in hopes you'd give us a chance."

"Why would you do that? I told you love is not something that I wanted back on our fake date."

"Yet here you are after you said we would never see each other again, you are here." Why was he being deliberately obtuse? She just wanted his damned body. She wanted him for days now, she tried picking up a guy to ease the frustration she was feeling, but not one guy or girl got her….going. Not like this guy, who had her ready to go with a mere look from him. "Look, Sam, I'm nearly forty, just having sex would be any normal guy's dream. But it's not mine, it's not what I want, call me insane or weird, I want love and a family."

"You men with your damned emotions," she pushed away from him. She stormed her way to his door, determined to find any damned guy to screw.

"I'd rather have emotions than be like you, just existing." She paused mid-step. She whirled around.

"You don't know anything about what I feel or don't feel." Anger bubbled up mixing with her sexual frustration.

"Your employer he was vague in his answers but he filled in some gaps about who you are, what you used to do, and it makes sense why you don't feel much of anything. I get it. But don't disparage me for having emotions and feelings for you!" She hadn't seen him angry before and he was angry at her. "I won't apologize for it."

"What is it about you Palmer that makes you different from everyone else I ever met? You are so completely opposite and wrong for me, yet I can't stop thinking about you." He shrugged his anger seeping away.

"What is it about you Sam? There are other women in the world yet no one makes me feel quite the way you do, not even my ex-wife." She sighed a little as she turned away from him, going towards his door once more, but all the anger she was feeling was zapped. She came here for just sex, but was leaving feeling even more frustrated than before.

"Sam," she paused her hand hovering over the doorknob, she turned to eye him. Her eyes flickered all over his nice toned body before sliding up to his eyes. "Will I ever you see again?"

"Well, I didn't save your sorry ass from biting a bullet just for you to die from a broken heart." She murmured and he smiled widely at her. "Palmer, work on some lines if you want a wife; you need better pickup lines than that."

"I don't think so, it worked on you." She rolled her eyes.

"It didn't work on me; I'm just going to enjoy watching you strike out with woman after woman with groaners like that." He laughed.

"I'm not planning on dating any other woman besides a certain brunette with a foul mouth, a bad temper, intelligent, and who is exceedingly beautiful. She's going to be difficult to crack, difficult to get her to let me in, but I'm going to enjoy it immensely."

"This isn't a game, Jake." She watched him move towards her, he merely leaned against the wall beside the door.

"You're right this isn't a game, because I'm not playing or joking here, Sam." He agreed before kissing her cheek. "See you around." She took one last glance at Jacob Palmer before fleeing his place, with the uncharacteristic feeling she was in a shitload of trouble. 

* * *

Author's note: Thank you to everyone for the warm reception to this story, I was highly worried about writing Shaw so you eased my worry. I am glad you guys enjoyed this. Thank you to all the guest reviewers that I cannot individually thank or reply back. I've gotten requests for the Careese side of it, which I'm gonna do. I actually started chapter 1, poor John he's not happy...lets just say he gets beautified by two little twin girls at Wee Bee Kidz Group ;P

Gretchen, I hope this was everything you wished and more. I love ya!


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